This morning, many of us will stand before God to dedicate ourselves to serve in certain ministries. We will promise before the congregation and God that we will serve Him faithfully. But why do you want to serve God? Do we serve because it is enjoyable? Yes, serving God brings joy to our hearts. But what if serving God is no fun? Do you still want to serve? So, why do you serve God? Galatians 2:20 reads:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul says that he has been crucified. He has died. In what sense has Paul died? Let me explain. Do you like to die? No. Nobody likes to die. We do not like to die because we treasure our lives. We love ourselves. Hence, if anyone tries to hurt us, we will fight back. If anyone despises us, we will return insult for insult. We love ourselves and would not allow ourselves to be hurt or suffer loss in anyway. So, when Paul says he has been crucified and died, he means that he no longer loves himself. He will not allow himself to live. Instead, “Christ lives,” that is, Paul will now let Christ live in his (Paul’s) life. What this means is, from now onwards, Paul will die and Christ will live. Paul will no longer care about himself, but care only about what Christ cares for. Paul will not pursue his own interests, his own comfort, but will pursue only what makes Christ happy, what Christ is concerned about. In other words, Paul will use his life not to serve himself but to serve Christ.

This verse explains how you should serve God. Serving God is not just that act of doing something. If you are truly serving God, you will be willing to give up your everything just to serve Him. You will be willing to make sacrifices, which includes your time, sleep, recreation, preference, and self-interests. I thank God for many of you. You serve God not because you have extra time. In fact, the reverse is true: many of you are very busy. You give to God not because you have extra money. The reverse is true: there are many things that you wish you could buy. You, however, chose to give up your time, money, recreation just to serve God. You have done well. When you give up the things that mean a lot to you in order to serve God, you are doing what Paul did: he died to himself.

But why would Paul want to do such a thing? Paul says that the motivating reason is because Christ “loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul’s reason is simple. Jesus gave up everything for me, I should also give up everything for Him. Jesus loves me I should also love Him. Our Lord Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to suffer humiliation and pain on the cruel cross. Jesus could have but he chose not to run away from death on the cross. He knows that if He does not die on the cross, we will die in hell for eternity. Our Lord loves us so much. We must love Him too.

How would you want to serve God this year? Why do you want to serve God this year? Give your Saviour the best and your all. You should because He loves you very much.